The Giver Ch 5-8

Edit 0 1 …

Chapter 5


  1. What do you think of the morning “dream telling” ritual?
  2. At one point, the clean-up of meals is referred to in this chapter. How do you think the meals are prepared and served? Explain the reasons why you think as you do.
  3. Explain in your own words why Jonas must start taking a pill every day. What effect do you think the pills will have on him?
  4. Why do you think “Stirrings” are treated with pills in this community?
  5. Why are the rules always printed in capital letters?

Chapter 6


  1. What do you think of the pledge the family has to sign about Gabriel? Why, according to the narrator, would it have been sad if they had to release Gabriel? What do you think of this?
  2. What is interdependence?
  3. Does the community’s explanation of the difference between release and loss make sense to you? Explain your answer.
  4. Draw a picture of one of the Ceremonies described in this chapter.
  5. Do you think it would be possible in our world to have a match-making service with a 100% success rate like the one in the community? Why or why not?

Chapter 7


  1. What do you think about the ritual of thanking people -- for example for their feelings, their dreams, and their childhood?
  2. If you were involved in the Ceremony of Twelve, what would you like most about it? What would you like least?
  3. Do the assignments given out seem appropriate to you? Explain.
  4. What does the story of Asher’s mistake at the age of three show you about the community
  5. Why do you think the Chief Elder skips Jonas? Give as many possible reasons as you can.

Chapter 8


  1. What does Jonas notice that is unusual about The Receiver? What meaning do you find in this?
  2. Ten years before, the Committee of Elders failed in their selection of a Receiver. What else happened ten years before? In what way might the two events be connected? Explain your thinking.
  3. What do you think a Receiver of Memory might do? Do you know of any other cultures that had anyone who might have been called a Receiver of Memory? Explain your answer.
  4. Jonas cannot understand how someone would have trouble fitting into his community – which achieves order by enforcing sameness. How does the sameness in the community also create unity?
  5. Imagine that you are Jonas. What questions do you want to ask The Receiver when you meet him?